SAJA Press Statement from the first Annual General Meeting in Mbabane Swaziland

The Southern Africa Journalists Association (SAJA), a regional body of scribes from 14 southern African countries launched in December 2001, has successfully completed its first ever Annual General Meeting in Mbabane Swaziland. Since its inception six months ago, SAJA has, with the support of the Brussels based International Federation of Journalists, vigorously tried to network journalists from the region to consolidate the fight for Press freedom and better working conditions for journalists in SADC countries. At the first ever AGM in Mbabane, SAJA welcomed the recent launch of the African Union and acknowledged it as a step further in the positive development of our continent. SAJA would want to take this opportunity to assert that it will cooperate and give support to all and any efforts undertaken by the African Union towards the development of a free and independent media on our continent, as well as the protection and preservation of journalistic independence throughout Africa. SAJA calls on the member states of the African Union to support efforts by journalists and African media professionals to establish pluralist, professional and independent media systems throughout Africa. SAJA notes that in many countries of Africa journalists work under intolerable conditions because of disregard of their professional, social and trade union rights. SAJA calls for the removal of all obstacles, legal and political to the exercise of free and independent journalism in Africa and for the African Union to play a positive and practical role in promoting freedom of the press throughout the continent. In particular, SAJA calls for African Union endorsement of the principles set out in the Windhoek Declaration of 1992 and for respect of all International Labour Organisation conventions and labour standards. The annual meeting instructs the SAJA Executive Committee to prepare proposals on how SAJA members should engage with the African Union on these issues and with other initiatives for economic and political co-operation, including the New Africa Programme for Development, and the Southern African Development Community protocols. SAJA believes that Africa-wide political co-operation can be invaluable in sustaining and developing free media and for that reason the process should be as inclusive as possible. In this regard, SAJA supports the call from media professionals in Madagascar for that country to be included in the African Union process. The SAJA AGM also passed a resolution on the state of the media in Swaziland. Noting that: 1) There is clear political interference by the Swazi Government in the media. 2. That inter alia this has manifested itself in: · Unfair and unlawful dismissals of employees at the national television station, The Swazi Observer and the Guardian newspapers. · Interference with broadcasting programming by politicians. · The continued existence of pieces of legislation inimical to the existence and development of a free and independent media. · The continuing harassment of journalists by police, state security forces and politicians. SAJA thus resolved: 1. To condemn in the strongest terms possible, the continuous harassment of journalists in the Kingdom. 2. To call for the immediate unconditional reinstatement of those unfairly and/or unlawfully dismissed under conditions no less favourable than existed before their dismissals. 3. To call on the Swaziland Government to scrap all media-unfriendly legislation and to consult with all media stakeholders with regard to appropriate and acceptable media laws, including in particular, the self-regulation of journalists and their profession.